Some 36 patients remain admitted to intensive care wards for dengue or chikungunya.
MIAMI, United States. – The arbovirus epidemic in Cuba added five new deaths, as recognized this Friday by the Vice Minister of Public Health, Carilda Peña García, during an update of the epidemiological panorama in the country. With these new deaths, the Island has accumulated 52 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak, 34 attributed to chikungunya and 18 to dengue.
“Yesterday was a day that we also consider favorable,” said Peña García when referring to this Tuesday, in which the five additional deaths were confirmed.
According to the vice minister, the majority of deceased patients belong to the group of those under 18 years of age, a fact that is repeated both in death statistics and in serious and critical cases treated in intensive care units. “The largest number of these patients who unfortunately have not had a satisfactory evolution (…) correspond to the category of those under 18 years of age,” he acknowledged.
During the appearance, Peña García reported that 36 patients remain admitted to intensive care rooms, six less than the previous day. Of them, 24 are classified as serious, and 19 are under 18 years of age. As for patients in critical condition, the total amounts to 12, “and almost 100% are under 18 years of age,” he stressed.
The vice minister insisted that this group includes not only newborns and infants, but also adolescents, and reiterated the call to take extreme care in homes, especially in relation to the youngest.
More than 47,000 accumulated cases of chikungunya
According to official data offered in the program, Cuba accumulates 47,003 cases of chikungunya, of which 45,351 are clinically suspected and 1,652 have been confirmed by PCR. Only in the most recent day, 539 new cases were reported, with 22 laboratory confirmations.
The transmission of the virus continues in the 15 provinces of the country and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud. In parallel, according to health authorities, the rate of suspected dengue cases showed a slight decrease compared to the previous day.
The Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) has admitted that the epidemiological situation on the Island continues to be complex, although with a general trend towards a decrease in chikungunya cases in several regions of the country.
Peña García announced that it is not expected to reach zero cases in the short term, and that both in January and in the following months the circulation of the virus will continue. “We are not going to have zero cases at the end of the year,” he stated.
The Cuban health authorities themselves have admitted that the official numbers of infected people represent an under-report. As recalled on state television, many patients do not go to medical centers.
The Cuban Government recognized for the first time on November 12 the existence of a chikungunya and dengue epidemic in the country, despite the fact that the first cases were diagnosed in July and infections began to skyrocket in September and October.
The epidemic has found especially favorable terrain in Cuba to expand due to the serious economic crisis that the country is going through. This situation limits the capacity for prevention – particularly massive fumigation against mosquitoes –, control – through laboratory tests to confirm the type of disease – and care for the sick, due to the lack of medicines and other health supplies.
